Click on “Add new source” – if you use that source again, it will appear as a selection.

The “Create Source” menu will appear. Check the box that says “Show all bibliography fields.”

Choose your type of source from the first drop-down menu. The default is “books.”

Fill in the blanks needed for your bibliography entry.

When you click “OK,” the citation will appear in your paper.

At the end of your paper, click on “Bibliography” and then “Insert Bibliography” and your sources will appear, formatted, at the end of your paper.

The entries should use hanging indent, however, and do not appear that way. To remedy this, select all of the entries, right click, select “Paragraph,” and under “Special,” choose “Hanging.” This should indent the second line of each source entry. The example below is the bibliography entry for a textbook.

Use Wikipedia as a starting point for general information. There is often a good bibliography included at the end of the article. However, DO NOT cite Wikipedia as a reliable source because ANYONE can write ANYTHING in the Wikipedia format and you cannot count on its reliability.

Inconsistent use of verb tense - don't mix past tense with present tense, etc. Pick one and stick to it.

Incorrect use of verb tense; for example, when verb tense agrees with a noun in a prepositional phrase, but not with the subject of the sentence

Example: Neither of the two compositions is a symphony. ('compositions' is part of a prepositional phrase)

Faulty parallelism: each idea in a series must match

Unclear pronoun reference: be clear to what or to whom you are referring when using pronouns Example: Because Senator Martin is less interested in the environment than in economic development, he sometimes neglects it. (What exactly is he neglecting??)

Contractions - don't use them in a formal paper ;-)

Commas - use them!!! (another reason to check those green lines!)

Who vs. whom - if you can replace it with "he" or "she," then it should be "who"; "him" or "her" substitutes for "whom"

"Should" and "must" - If it is your opinion, back it up. If it is someone else's idea, cite it.

"Some say" or "It is said" phrases - who says?? In a formal paper, do not make such vague statements.

Who Cares About Those Picky Details?

"The Orff method is founded on four principals."

A "principal" is an administrator at a school. The correct spelling should have been "principle." Now read that sentence from the point of view of a person judging your level of education and knowing what a "principal" is. Oops!

ORFF METHOD

Although not all commas make such a crucial difference in meaning, here is an illustration of the necessity of the humble comma. The following sentence is interpreted by means of punctuation in two very different ways.